State tenders 7 documents

DESPITE  a multitude of objections by the defence team, some headway was made yesterday in the Piarco Airport Corruption Inquiry, as seven documents were tendered into evidence by the State. The documents, which included three cheques, were among “millions”of documents collected during the investigations into the Piarco Airport Terminal Development Project, from which eight persons and three companies have been charged with a total of 21 offences relating to the project.

Asst Supt Wayne Boyd of the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau, who had been called to the witness stand since March 11, yesterday completed his evidence-in-chief, despite many objections from defence attorney Frank Solomon SC. At the first attempt by lead prosecutor Gilbert Peterson SC to tender a document into evidence, he was accused by Solomon of trying to take the defence by surprise “under the guise of incompetence.” Peterson, Solomon said, had not complied with an order given by Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls to give advance notice of the documents that would be tendered into evidence through the witnesses. Peterson, in defence, claimed he had only decided to seek to have the document admitted into evidence shortly before yesterday’s hearing.

Solomon challenged further attempts by Peterson to have other documents admitted into evidence. Regarding the tendering of the cheques, Solomon insisted that the prosecutor was “trying to mislead us by omission,” since he had disclosed only copies of the fronts of the cheques but was attempting to tender the information on both sides into evidence. Peterson, however, maintained it was a clerical error and took offence to his integrity being questioned by Solomon. “My integrity is all I have,” the prosecutor said in a raised tone. “I don’t have any money contrary to what Counsel thinks,” he continued.

The defence’s objections were all over-ruled by Mc Nicolls. The accused, former Government Ministers Brian Kuei Tung and Russell Huggins, businesswoman Renee Pierre; CEO of Northern Construction Ltd (NCL) Ishwar Galbaransingh; financial comptroller of NCL Amrith Maharaj; CEO of Maritime General Insurance Company John Henry Smith; chairman of Maritime Group of companies Steve Ferguson and company secretary, Barbara Gomes, will re-appear before Mc Nicolls on June 15. It was agreed by the defence and prosecution that the Inquiry will be heard every Monday to Thursday from that date, until the second week in July.